Vodafone, China Mobile Withdraw Bid for Myanmar Telecom Licenses

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Vodafone Group Plc and China Mobile
Ltd., the two biggest mobile-phone companies, have withdrawn
their joint bid for one of the two licenses offered in Myanmar
after deciding the returns don’t justify the investments.

The group, one of 12 shortlisted to bid for the rights to
build and operate a nationwide network for 15 years, won’t
submit a final offer because the commitment doesn’t meet the
companies’ “strict internal investment criteria,” Vodafone and
China Mobile said in a joint statement today.

Investors are circling newly opened Myanmar, which has less
than 10 percent wireless penetration among its 64 million
people, after the government said it wants to boost
telecommunications coverage to as much as 80 percent of the
population by 2016. Myanmar’s economy is projected to grow 6.2
percent this year, up from an anticipated 5.5 percent increase
in 2012, according to an October World Bank report.